Bottled Water Research Paper

Plastic water bottles are considered one of the healthiest beverages you can find in any shop. But are they really all that healthy for the environment, or is there a fine line between a plastic bottled water drink and what’s best for everyone? Let’s take a look at bottled water from the very start to find out. To manufacture plastic bottles, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is used, and to produce PET, crude oil and natural gas is required. If one fills a plastic water bottle 1/4th full with oil, they will be looking at how much oil was used to make that one bottle, so how much oil does it take to make all of America’s water bottles? According to the Pacific Institute, in 2006, making plastic water bottles

One of the biggest harms to the world is pollution caused by people. Most of the plastic materials used by people are left to pollute. Bottled water is one of the biggest plastic materials produced. Some people say that bottled water is safer, convenient, and provide jobs to workers in many ways. The reasons for buying bottled water differ. Some people buy bottled water because they don’t like the taste or smell of tap water, while others on the other hand buy it because of health concerns with water contamination. Pollution is one of the biggest problems hurting the environment today, and water bottles that are thrown out after each one-time use, contribute greatly to its increasing buildup. Bottled water is not only expensive to us, but also to the environment. Bottled water is hurting the economy, harming human lives, and damaging the environment.

The main issue with bottled water is the effect it has on the environment. Plastic bottles are drastically increasing the size of landfills and can take up to five hundred years to decompose. At the rate plastic

Water is essential to life, scientific fact, not debatable (Tracy). More than half of all Americans drink bottled water; about a third of the public consumes it regularly (Olsen). Many drink or buy bottled water simply because they believe it is of better quality, cleaner, and better tasting. On the contrary, several individuals do not know the cons of drinking bottled water. Today, there are many misconceptions and myths about bottled water. Many people are uneducated about what goes into our bottles and how it not only affects us but also our environment. In the article “The New Oil” by Jeneen Interlandi and Ryan Tracy they discuss the issues that have to do with water and the privatization of it. They believe there is a crisis and something has to be done. Due to the cost, pollution, shortage, and health issues, bottled water should be outlawed. Water should not be controlled by water bottle companies and should not be allowed to be sold in plastic bottles.

(Ban the Bottle, 2014) In the previous year, the average American used approximately 167 disposable water bottles but only recycled 38. (Ban the Bottle, 2014) Statistics collected by the Health Research Funding organization illustrate that only 1 in 5 water bottles are recycled while the other four contribute to the 3 billion pounds of waste from plastic water bottles. (HRF, 2014) Depending on the size and volume, the cost of bottled water usually covers packaging, advertising, shipping and administrative processes. (HRF, 2014) If an individual purchases water bottles often, the cost accumulates and mass waste is produced but if one were to purchase a reusable bottle, hundreds of dollars can be saved in a year while also keeping the landfills and waste bins clear of plastic bottles and caps. (Ban the Bottle,

From helping the daily jogger stay hydrated during a run to that mom and family trying to stay hydrated at the amusement park, bottled water has had a lot of good to it. However do those goods outweigh the bad? In “Bottled Water: Friend or Foe?” by Christopher Castillo, Diana Goettsch, Angela Reid, and Catherine Sterling argue bottled water are our worst enemy, reasons being the bottle itself has harming chemicals within it which we are drinking, bottled water damages our environment, and lastly we are spending more on bottled water when we have the same water coming from our sinks.

Making all the plastic for those bottles uses 17 million barrels of crude oil annually. That is the equivalent to the fuel needed to keep 1 million vehicles on the road for 12 months so why are so many people drinking bottled waters? They believe that they are making a healthy choice. But the truth is that tap water is just as safe, often safer than bottled water. In fact, some bottled water is

In 2004, Americans, on average, drank 24 gallons of bottled water, making it second only to carbonated soft drinks in popularity (Standage). In the article “Plastic Water Bottles Causing Flood or Harm to the Environment,” the Earth Policy Institute factors the energy used to pump, process, transport, and refrigerate bottled water as over 50 million barrels of oil every year (Schriever). It’s absurd that so many resources are used to make plastic bottles which are not necessary at all. Bottled water does allow us to drink water out of it but in reality bottled water is very bad for

Michael Hiltzik’s first section of the article is especially important for individuals to know about. I agree 100% with his opinion on bottle water. There are many environmental dangers and unnecessary expenses for bottled water. Countless people don’t discard of their bottled waters in the recycling or trash bin. Eventually, these plastic dangers end up in the ocean and may put marine life in jeopardy.

Obsession may be the word used to describe American’s outlook towards bottled water. Many people buy it without thinking twice while others are thoughtful about the product. However, the use of bottled water establishes a challenge worth a discussion. As Susan Freinkel and Peter Gleick illustrate in their books, the use of plastic bottled water has birthed several consequences, which are not only economic but also environmental.

According to the article Bottled Water vs. Tap Water by Jackie Dana, “It’s estimated that people spend $100 billion a year on bottled water, each American drinks 21 gallons per year, almost 2 gallons per month!” We see them everywhere but it is where we see them that is damaging to the environment, for instance, our streets, oceans, and not properly thrown out. These plastic bottles have become unneeded waste starting a global problem. There are better alternatives for carrying our everyday water that is less expensive and less harmful. For example, stainless steel, canteens, and other nonplastic containers.

Researchers have shown that majority of people spend so much money buying bottled water daily and yet they have tap water that’s almost free. The amount of bottled water consumed per day around the global is more than that of tap water. An article from the USA Today Magazine states, “... demand for bottled water is increasing--producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy. In the industrial world, bottled water is considered to be healthier than tap water because bottled water costs more than tap water. Bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times more. At as much as $2.50 per liter, bottled water costs more than gasoline.” According to the article, the demand for bottled water is increasing and that’s causing environmental concerns and using a large amount of energy. The industries that manufacture and produce bottled water need a lot of energy to purify the water and make the bottles. It is expensive for retailers to buy bottled

“One of the biggest challenges facing the bottled water industry is how to respond to the environmental claims levelled against it” (Grocer). Every time someone throws a bottle away, they have taken up more space in a landfill for the next four hundred fifty to one thousand years. Besides the long decomposition rate, water bottles are the cause of several more environmental issues. Overfilling landfills, health hazards caused by refilling, and the economic stresses due to the constant and inconvenient repurchasing are just a few of the negatives water bottles have on us. These plastic pollutants are doing more harm to both the environment and their users than good.

“Water is the lifeblood of our bodies,our economy,our nation and our well-being” (Johnson). This quote represents the significance H2O holds in not only our everyday lives,but also in our state of health in the long run. Numerous Americans consume water on a daily basis, however since it is such a common occurrence, too few people actually put thought into what they are ingesting. There are many advantages to drinking bottled H2O such as, the difference the convenience of water being bottled has made on Americas water consumption, bottled water is a lifesaver in cases such as a natural disaster and provides less health risks but, bottled water is more expensive which causes people to use it less .Conversely, others think arduously on the subject without proper research. It is time to begin thinking about it and educating others about bottled water. A stupendous way to begin the education process is to do an extensive amount of research to distinguish between facts and myths about bottled water.

Have you ever had any concerns about bottled water? Do you think that bottled water consumption should be banned? Bottled water is water packed in plastic containers and sold for human consumption (Health Canada, 2013). Currently, the amount of bottled water consumed has increased considerably since many people feel it is safer drinking bottled water than tap water (Parent and Wrong, 2014). According to The Statistics Portal, the global sale of bottled water took a leap from 161, 589 to 181, 608 liters from 2009 to 2011. Only in the United States, each American citizen consumed around 32 gallons of bottled water in 2013, thus meaning an equivalent growth of 15, 94% over 2009 (The Statistics Portal, 2014). In fact, due to good portability, bottled water has been helpful in both simple and complex situations such as daily exercises and natural disasters. Even though having those few considerable advantages, bottled water still have been less beneficial; especially due to the negative impacts in the socio-economic, health and environmental fields.